Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, III announced that 32 year-old Terrell Hale of 116 Montana Street, Buffalo, pleaded guilty, as charged, to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, before Senior Erie County Court Judge Michael L. D’Amico. As a violent felony (drug possession is not classified as a violent felony) Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd Degree is the most punitive and thus the highest count for which the defendant could have been convicted had he gone to trial.

On January 27, 2013, Hale was pulled over by Buffalo Police Officers John Beyer and Kelvin Sharpe for traffic infractions. During the course of their investigation, the officers observed a handgun under the driver’s seat and recovered the pistol loaded with 5 rounds of ammunition. Hale denied knowledge of the illegal handgun, but his claims of innocence turned out to be lies as evinced by the fact that his DNA was on the gun. Co-incidentally, Hale was also found in possession of 254 plastic bags of cocaine, three cell phones, and $3,118 in cash. In another shocking co-incidence, Hale has a significant criminal history, earning a prior felony conviction Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (for which he served three years in state prison) and a prior felony conviction for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 5th Degree (for which he spent four years in prison).

The case was successfully prosecuted by ADA Liam Dwyer. Hale faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 7 years in state prison and a maximum of life in prison as a persistent felony offender when he is sentenced on September 23, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge D’Amico.